Rick Santorum: ‘Crazy Stuff’ Comments On Contraception Hurt Campaign

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum greets supporters on Monday, Jan. 19, 2015, at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition Convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (AP Photo/Randall Hill)

During his 2012 presidential run, former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) focused his campaign on social conservative issues, includng his anti-abortion stance. But in a recent interview with MSNBC, Santorum, who seems to be gearing up for another run in 2016, suggested that was all “crazy stuff.”

In an interview with NBC Santorum said that his last presidential campaign was defined by states on contraception and anti-abortion stances and similar “crazy stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with anything.” Santorum himself also said that his campaign suffered for some “dumb things” he said.

Santorum’s comments came during a visit with South Carolina activists he made over the weekend. MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin reported that during that visit, Santorum made a speech outlining what his 2016 campaign would look like—it emphasized more conservative views on immigration reform and less on opposing same-sex marriage.

“We see wages depressed, we see median income going down, and I think legal immigration is a part of that puzzle,” Santorum told MSNBC.

It is a shift from 2012 when Santorum focused much of his energy on contraception and gay marriage while running for president. In an interview with Time magazine he said that if he was elected president he would talk about “the dangers of contraception in this country, the whole sexual libertine idea.”

(H/t: The Huffington Post)

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  1. WITHout ALL the CrAZy stUFF Rick SAid, WE’d BE LOOKing at a Permanent REPUBLICan MAJORity that COULD’ve ENACted A purE CRAzy rEPUBLICAN AgeNDA!1!!!one!1!!!

  2. During the period from 434 to 453 Atilla the Hun (R-PA) focused his campaign on the rape and plunder of most of Europe. But in a recent interview with MSNBC, Atilla, who seems to be gearing up for another run in 2016, suggested that was all “crazy stuff.”

  3. And hey, not telling people the crazy shit you believe and would do is exactly the same thing as being a guy who doesn’t believe and wouldn’t do that stuff. At least as far as the MSM horse race reporters are concerned.

    Though, granted, Frothy’s failure to pick up on this important lesson of the 2000 campaign doesn’t speak well of his political acumen.

  4. “My campaign was defined about all the crazy stuff that I talk about constantly and think is important. It was the liberal media at work!”

    “Oh…and BENGHAZI!”

  5. You do realize this comment is coming from his new corral of campaign consultants, who have crunched the numbers and determined that Santorum has zero chance of getting out of Iowa if Huckabee gets in the race. That is, Santorum loses to Huckabee in a big way.

    Which means that their candidate can’t run as the only social con. So they are trying to position him as a more “regular” GOP candidate…with the added bonus of being dumber than most of the others.

    Getting a paying job working for Ricky is going to be one of the easiest ways to make money in 2016. True, the paycheck won’t last long, but you won’t have to do a whole lot either. And apparently, he has brought on all sorts of professional consultants this time.

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